Iron Stratos
by Epiclot214
Summary: (AU) After building his own custom IS armor that he can use, teenage prodigy Tony Stark has been accepted into the IS Academy. There, he gains the reputation of being the first male to pilot an IS and the attention of all the girls. This billionaire and his new attractive classmates get into many contests, hijinks, and life-threatening situations with unmanned IS units.
1. First Day

Almost every girl in the IS Academy has been talking about the new student. When they heard who it was, they couldn't stop talking about it.

"Is that…"

"It is!"

"But how?"

"Didn't you hear? Apparently, he made his own custom IS armor that he can use."

"Shut up! Really?"

"Yeah. And because of that, he was granted enrollment."

"How exciting! We're classmates with Tony Stark!"

The young genius, Tony Stark, was nervous. Not only was this his first day in a new school in a foreign country, but it was also at a school full of girls. It was a dream come true for him. All the girls in his homeroom class stared in awe at him as he tinkered with a mechanical device. At the same time, the assistant homeroom teacher entered the class.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Maya Yamada, and I see we have a new student. Would you mind introducing yourself to us?" She got no answer. "Uh, Mr. Stark?" Still no answer.

Suddenly, a fist hit the top of Tony's head with great force. He reacted the same way anyone would when punched. He looked up at his attacker and saw a new woman: Chifuyu Orimura.

"Pay attention, Mr. Stark!" she scolded.

"Right, sorry." Tony said. He put his mechanical parts away and sat up straight.

"Introduce yourself to the rest of the class." Chifuyu said.

"Right." Tony said standing up. "Hello, ladies. I'm Tony Stark. I'm the new, and first, guy on campus, and I hope we get along well." He sat back down.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." Chifuyu said before turning to the entire class. "Listen up! Your syllabus for the next six months begins with memorizing all data concerning the IS. After that, practical training where you'll have two weeks to master the basic maneuvers. So, have you got that? Even if you don't, say 'yes, ma'am'."

"Yes, ma'am!" the whole class obeyed.

Maya Yamada smiled as she took the center of the front class. She picked up her pointer and presented a PowerPoint introduction.

"Now, as I'm sure all of you are already aware, IS actually stand for Infinite Stratos. It's a multi-form suit originally developed in Japan. When it was first conceived ten years ago, it was originally designed to use for outer space. However, those plans are currently on hold. Due to the Alaska Treaty, the IS is also prohibited from being used by the military. Therefore, it is used solely for competitions and sporting events. And our IS Academy is the only educational institution in the world established with the objective of training IS pilots. Students from all around the world come to this school where young people from a multitude of countries get to live, work, and study side by side every day as they hone and perfect their piloting skills. So staring today, let's all study hard over the next three years."

"Yes, ma'am." The female students agreed.

"_Guess she forgot an important detail._" Tony thought to himself. "_Only girls could operate IS units. Because of that, our society took a matriarchal turn. And then, I made my own IS that I can use._"

* * *

After class, recess began for the class. All the girls were talking (mostly about Tony) while he sketched on his notebook paper.

"Excuse me." An English voice said behind Tony. He looked and saw a blond English woman.

"Uh, hi." Tony said. "Can I help you?"

"I'd just like to acquaint myself to you. My name is Cecilia Alcott, the representative contender of England. I'm sure you know what that means."

"Yeah, it means your country chose you to represent them in this academy because you're one of the best." Tony said.

"Not just one of the best, Mr. Stark." Cecilia said. "I happen to be the only student to best an instructor in my entrance exam. I know, it's an honor to place yourself in the presence of the upper class."

"Sheesh, and people say I have a big head." Tony thought to himself. He then spoke. "Look, Cecilia, I hate to break it to you, but I also defeated an instructor."

"Wait, what?" Cecilia gasped in surprise. "You defeated an instructor?"

"My IS armor is pretty advanced." Tony explained as he ripped out one of his sketches. "Here, take a look."

Cecilia took a look at the design and scoffed. "This is supposed to be an IS? It looks nothing like it."

"It's close enough." Tony said.

"Unbelievable." Cecilia said as she stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Tony asked.

* * *

After the school hours have ended, Tony took his luggage and moved to his assigned room. It matched the number on his paper, 1025.

"Guess this is it." Tony said. He opened the door and stepped in. "Nice place."

"Hello." A girl's voice called out from the bathroom. Tony was both surprised and confused. "Is someone there? You must be my roommate." She got out with only her towel around her body. "My name is Houki Shinonono, and…" She stopped talking when she saw who was in the room with her. She expected many sorts of people it could be, but she didn't expect to be rooming with the only male student in the IS Academy.

"WHAT THE…" Houki screamed.

"Easy, easy!" Tony said. "Calm down!"

"Calm down?" Houki asked. "How can I calm down? What are you doing here?"

"Well, this happens to be my room." Tony said. "Like you said, it looks like we're roommates. Look, maybe it's not that bad. Just… how about you get changed, and we can talk about it?"

Houki breathed in and out deeply. She stood straight back up. "Fine." She returned to the bathroom and came out with clothes on five minutes later. "So… Tony Stark, huh?"

"That's me. And… Sorry, I didn't hear your name earlier."

"Houki Shinonono."

"Right. Hold on…" Tony stroked his thin beard. "Shinonono. Where have I heard that name before?"

"Well, I won the national kendo tournament about a year ago." Houki said. "Maybe that?"

"Nah, I don't follow kendo news." Tony said. "Wait, I think I get it. By any chance, are you related to Tabane Shinonono, the creator of the IS?"

Houki sighed and looked away. "Yeah. She's my sister, but I don't like to talk about it."

"Distant family, huh?" Tony asked. "Yeah, I get it."

"Really?" Houki asked suddenly interested.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It then opened revealing Chifuyu.

"Ms. Orimura." Houki said. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Houki." Chifuyu said. "Actually, I'd like a word with Mr. Stark in the hallway."

"Uh, sure thing." Tony said following her.

Chifuyu shut the door before finally talking to the student. "How are you holding up, Tony?"

"Well, I'm a handsome, rich genius who invented an IS suit that I can pilot and I'm attending a school full of girls." Tony explained. "So to answer your question, I'm living every man's dream."

"You should take it more seriously, Tony." Chifuyu said. "When Tabane Shinonono first invented the IS, she became the target for several people who don't have people's best interests at heart. She had o go into hiding and her family had to be put in tight security because of it. And now that you have made an IS that anyone can use…"

"But not just anyone can use it." Tony interrupted. "Only I can. What makes my IS special is that it needs this." Tony tapped his finger at the glowing metal of blue light under his shirt. "It's a miniature arc reactor. There's a bigger one at Stark Industries, but no one but me has ever made one as small as this. My IS can only be operational when hooked up to this thing. Therefore, I'm the only one who can use it."

"Just watch yourself, Tony." Chifuyu said. "Your father trusted me with your care ever since… what happened, and as a friend to your family, I'd hate it if something happened."

"Yeah, I got it." Tony said frowning. "Is that it?"

"Just one more thing." Chifuyu said. "Stane called."

"Of course." Tony sighed. "Let me guess; it was about the suit. I keep telling Stane it can't be used as a weapon, especially since it was technically ruled as an IS."

"Just thought you should know." Chifuyu said before walking off. "Good day, Mr. Stark."

Tony sighed and returned to his room where Houki waited on her bed.

"How was it?" Houki asked.

"Just some Orimura charm, I'd say." Tony joked. "Tell me, is she always such a big teddy bear?"

"All right then." Houki said. "Since we're sharing this room, we'll have to establish some ground rules. We'll have to talk about a bathroom schedule."

"As long as you let me tinker in peace, I don't mind." Tony said. "Hey, would you like to see my suit?"

"As in your IS suit?" Houki asked. "In here?"

"Don't worry." Tony said. "It's perfectly fine. I'll show you."

Tony knelt down to his suitcase while Houki took a step back. He clicked it open and stood back. Suddenly, several pieces of metal shifted until they formed a standing suit of metal armor. It was the size of any human, but was mostly red and had a gold face. There was a spherical glass in the middle of the torso in the same position as Tony's arc reactor on his chest.

"That's your suit?" Houki asked.

"Yep." Tony said. "Behold, the Iron Man. Complete with repulsor blasts from its hands, repulsor rockets at its feet, a place to put my arc reactor, and…"

"Arc reactor?" Houki asked. "What's that?"

"Well, it's this." Tony tapped the light on his chest again. "It's kind of an energy source. I had an accident a while back and got really hurt. In a basic sense, this thing is the only thing keeping me alive."

"That sounds… awful."

"Yeah. It kinda was. But that's in the past now. The worst part of my life is behind me."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Tony." A new voice called out. Houki nearly jumped when she saw where the voice was coming from: the armor.

"What was that?" Houki asked.

"Oh, I was about to get to that." Tony said. "It's my suit's AI."

"AI?" Houki asked.

"It's a thought I had a while back." Tony said. "An AI companion for IS armors. I'm not planning on using him for any contests yet, but if I can get the OK from the school staff, this guy is going places."

"Thank you, Tony." The voice said. "It's good to have expectations."

"It seems a little… smart for a program, don't you think?" Houki asked.

"I'm very good." Tony said. "Just promise me you won't say a word until they green light it. It would mean a lot to me."

"Well…" Houki thought for a moment. She then thought if she wanted to have a healthy relationship with Tony Stark, she had to support some of his ideas, and she thought this was one of them. "All right. As long as you promise not to use him until it's okay. It might be a bit unfair for the others."

"I got it." Tony said. "Understand, buddy?"

"Of course, Tony." The voice said. "It's only fair. Now, how about some introductions?"

"Right." Tony said. "This is my roommate, Houki. Houki… meet Ultron."

"Nice to meet you, Ultron." Houki said.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Shinonono." Ultron returned. "I have a feeling we're going to get along so well."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_This is a request by Dracus6. As you can see, I replace Ichika with Tony Stark. The main reason for that is Ichika would be annoying to write about. I have nothing against the guy, but his stupidity is very irritating. I think we can all agree that having Tony Stark would be more interesting. I've got big plans for this story and Ultron would make a good story. Hope you enjoy._


	2. Tony Stark vs Cecilia Alcott

The next day in class, Chifuyu Orimura addressed the class. Tony knew not to give her a reason to smack him upside the head again, so today, he didn't bother tinkering.

"Listen up." Chifuyu said. "In three weeks, you shall choose your representative for the class tournament. Not only will the class representative take part in these tournaments, but they will also have a place in student council and committee meetings. I shall take nominations now."

"I nominate Tony Stark!" a random classmate shouted.

"Come again?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I second that!" another student agreed.

Most of the girls were excited as they all nominated Tony much to his surprise.

"_Actually, this might work out._" He thought to himself. "_If I'm on the student council, then I'll be one step closer to green-lighting Ultron. It's a no-lose situation._"

"Well, if there are no objections, then Mr. Stark will win without a vote." Chifuyu said. "In that case…"

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" a familiar voice shook the class. Everyone looked and gazed at Cecilia Alcott, who stood in frustration. "You can't honestly think it's a good idea to have a boy as our class representative, especially since he doesn't even have a real IS unit."

"I'll have you know, the Iron Man is proven to be an IS by a court of law." Tony said. "It's as much an IS as I am a genius."

"This calls for a duel!" Cecilia declared. "Not only will I take the title of class representative from you, but I intend to prove that your 'Iron Man' has no right to be called an IS! And if you ever lose to me on purpose, I shall make you my servant. No, wait, I shall make you my slave."

"Making a lot of assumptions, Aristo-catty." Tony said. "Tell you what. How about a handicap?"

"Ah, so you would like a handicap?" Cecilia asked smugly.

"No, I was wondering if I should give you a handicap." Tony returned the smug. "Maybe I should duel with my eyes closed. Or perhaps I should give you a 30 second head start."

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy putting you in your place." Cecilia growled.

"Then it's settled." Chifuyu said. "This duel shall take place in Arena 3, which shall be available Monday. You two better prepare yourselves."

The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

* * *

Back at his dorm, Tony began modifying his armor. Houki was trying to study, but she kept being distracted by Tony working.

"Talk to me, Ultron." Tony said. "What can you tell me about Cecilia Alcott?"

"Well, she is the English representative of her home country." Ultron described. "Her IS is called the Blue Tears, and her specialty is her sniper abilities."

"What are my odds?" Tony asked.

"About 52.8% in your favor by my calculations, but without further data, I can't give you anything more concrete." Ultron said. "It could rise significantly if you allow me to assist you in the duel."

"Sorry, Ultron." Tony said. "Made a promise, and I'm not going to break it. Besides, based on your initial calculations, I've got a 2.8% lead on her. Those are odds I like."

"I understand, Tony." Ultron said. "If you ever change your mind, you'll know where to find me."

"Hey, Tony," Houki said, "You better win or I will get very upset."

"Thanks, Houki, I guess."

* * *

Before the match was set to begin, Tony was in his station he was scheduled to fly out of. Houki was right beside him as he popped out his armor from his suitcase. He placed himself inside of it and waited for it to seal tight.

"How does it feel?" Houki asked.

"Honestly," Tony said, "Like putting on a big, metal sock."

"That's quite the imagery, sir."

That was a voice that the two didn't expect. When they turned to the door, they saw two men standing there. One was a big guy in a business suit, and the other was an elderly man in a fancy uniform.

"Happy! Jarvis!" Tony cheered. "How are you two doing?"

"Well, the house has been quiet since your transfer, sir." Jarvis said. "I've been thinking of buying a house here until summer break."

"Tony, do you know these guys?" Houki asked.

"Do I ever." Tony responded. "Houki, this is Jarvis, my family's faithful butler. And this is Happy Hogan from Stark Industries security. Guys, this is Houki Shinonono. She's my roommate."

"Lucky kid." Happy said.

"Good to meet you, Ms. Shinonono." Jarvis said.

"Uh, nice to meet you too." Houki said.

"Wait a minute." Tony said. "If you're here, Happy, then does that mean…"

"Yep." Happy said. "Stane's here too rooting for that English girl."

"Who?" Houki asked.

"Stane, the acting CEO of Stark Industries until I come of age." Tony said. "The problem is, that snake has been trying to take away my rights to become the permanent CEO."

"Well, rest assured, sir," Jarvis said, "I have every faith in you."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Tony said.

"Okay, everyone, listen up!" Chifuyu called out from the speaker system. "Due to the tight schedule this arena has, we can only make this match go on for five minutes. If no one wins before then, the winner shall be determined by a team of judges. Are you ready, Stark?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Tony said.

The door began to open into the arena.

"Tony," Houki said beginning to blush, "Good luck, I guess."

"Thanks, Houki." Tony said. "If I win, dinner's on me." That took Houki off guard as he blasted out and into the outside area where Cecilia waited in her IS.

The crowd cheered as they were beginning to watch the first duel with a man with an IS. Tony flew up to confront Cecilia.

"That armor is even more dreadful than I imagined." Cecilia said. "How could you possibly call that a real IS?"

"How could you call yourself a real blonde?" Tony responded.

"Enough chattering, you two!" Chifuyu declared. "The match begins… NOW!"

Suddenly, Cecilia hovered high in the air at such speed. She then held up a long sniper rifle and fired it immediately taking Tony by surprise. A shot hit him knocking him back.

"Quick starter, huh?" Tony asked. "Nothing I can't shake off."

"Shake these off!" Cecilia shouted. Suddenly, the feather-like parts from her IS's wings flew off and pointed at Tony. They fired laser beams that were trying to hit Tony, who evaded them. "If you're thinking of beating a long-range fighter with hand-to-hand combat, you're a bigger fool than I thought!"

"Who said hand-to-hand?" Tony asked. "Well, actually, it's kinda accurate."

Tony raised his hand and pointed it to Cecilia. Suddenly, a bigger laser blast shot out catching Cecilia by surprise.

"What was that?" Cecilia asked.

"Repulsors. Not lethal, but they sure to pack a punch. Here, have another."

Tony shot again, but this time, Cecilia barely escaped. They exchanged firing shots at each other. Sometimes, they hit, and sometimes, they don't. Cecilia played a trump card by firing a missile from her waist, but Tony caught it and redirected it back at her. Cecilia was beginning to get mad.

"Would you just lose already?" Cecilia asked. "It's just an armor!"

"It's not just the armor!" Tony said continuing to dodge laser blasts. "This is my chance to save my family name!"

And just like that, Cecilia stopped. She froze in place and widened her eyes.

"Wait, what?" she asked. "Save your family name?"

Tony finally saw his chance. He reached out both his hands and took aim. His blasts hit Cecilia directly and she was blasted back. Suddenly, the alarm blared catching everyone by surprise.

"Time's up, everyone!" Maya Yamada's voice called out. "The winner is Tony Stark!"

Everyone in the crowd cheered out loudly. Tony was shocked. He was taken aback almost as much as Cecilia.

"I… lost?" Cecilia asked. "I…"

"Good game, teatime." Tony said.

Chifuyu and Maya walked out onto the field and lead Tony and Cecilia inside the halls.

"Well done, class representative." Chifuyu said.

"Thanks, Chi…" He stopped himself when he saw his teacher making a fist. "Uh… Ms. Orimura."

"But how?" Cecilia asked in disbelief. "How did…"

"Ms. Alcott, I've been monitoring both armor systems during the match." Maya said. "You were both pretty even in terms of long-distance attacks and strategies and that pause you had near the end did seal the win in Tony's favor, but your biggest mistake appears to be how you underestimated the Iron Man armor. True, on the outside, it doesn't look much like an IS, but when running diagnostics and systems check, the resemblance in uncanny. It even runs on the IS Core that Mr. Stark has made."

"Wait, what?" Cecilia asked turning to Tony. "You have an IS Core? But only Tabane Shinonono knows how to make them for personal IS armor. You actually made a Core?"

"Sort of." Tony asked. "I kinda modified my arc reactor in my chest to also act as an IS Core for my armor. Dr. Shinonono may have only created 467 Cores before she discontinued and disappeared, but I just made the 468th."

"Allegedly." A woman's voice called out. A woman in a business suit appeared from the hallway. The very presence of her made Tony sigh in discomfort. "Hello, Tony."

"Hello, Stane." Tony returned.

"Ophelia, what brings you all the way from America?" Chifuyu asked.

"Well, I heard that Tony was having his first match against a representative contender from England, and I thought I could come see it for myself." Stane explained.

"More like you heard Cecilia called me out on my armor and thought you could use my defeat to have permanent control of Stark Industries." Tony accused. "Well, you're gonna have to wish a little harder than that, Stane."

"Oh, Tony, you naïve boy." Stane chuckled smugly. "I don't make wishes. I make investments. And your armor could be a great investment if you would just…"

"Forget it, Stane." Tony said. Stane's smile began to fade. "You heard the court. This thing is legally considered an IS, and is therefore protected by the Alaska Treaty."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Tony." Stane said.

"I agree with the boy." Chifuyu said. "According to the Alaska Treaty, no IS should be used by the military, and since the Iron Man armor is considered an IS, you don't have the legal right to weaponized it. So why don't you do us a favor and go back to America."

Stane growled in anger before storming off. Tony sighed once more while Cecilia watched him in sympathy.

* * *

"Really, Happy?" Tony asked. "The board has assigned you to be my bodyguard?"

"That's what they said." Happy said. "You're the first male IS pilot and you just won a match against a representative contender. There's gonna be quite a paparazzi wherever you go. Don't worry, I've got my own living arrangements courtesy of Stark Industries."

Houki smiled as she walked beside Tony and Happy through a park.

"Too bad Jarvis had to go back to New York." Tony said. "Well, someone has to look after the house until graduation. Oh, Houki, we still on for dinner?"

"You mean it?" Houki smiled with a slight blush.

"Well, yeah." Tony said. "This calls for a celebration."

"Oh… right." It wasn't quite what Houki was expecting, but she's okay with it. "That's okay."

"STARK!" Cecilia shouted as she ran toward them.

"This again?" Tony asked in a sigh. "Look, Cecilia, I don't have time for any more of your criticisms and…"

"This has nothing to do with that." Cecilia said. "I just came to… apologize. It was wrong of me to just assume what can be considered an IS. I am sorry."

"No hard feelings, Alcott." Tony said. "It's clear we started off on the wrong foot. Fresh start?"

"Deal." Cecilia said. "Just so you know, you won't be so lucky the next time we have a match."

"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Tony said. "You took a big blast to the face after stopping so suddenly. Why'd you stop?"

"Well… you said something about your family." Cecilia admitted nervously. "It kinda… reminded me of my own."

"Personal issues, huh?" Tony asked. "Well, it's nothing like mine."

"Yours?" Houki asked. "What do you mean?"

Tony sighed before admitting. "Okay, look. It started with my dad, Howard Stark. He was a genius, a major help with the Allies in World War II. Not much of a family man, though."

"What happened?" Cecilia asked.

"The IS happened." Tony responded. "Ever since it was made, the government took a more matriarchal turn. Now, Stane—you know Stane—wanted to run Stark Industries for herself turning some of my dad's proudest projects into weapons, so she attempted to play the political card and convince the board of directors to give the company to her. But it turns out my dad was too valuable to lose. He kept working hard to keep his position."

"I remember those days." Happy Hogan said. "Howard spent sleepless nights trying to earn his company."

"That only made him a more distant family man." Tony said. "And then… there was this… car crash."

"I'm sorry, Tony." Houki said.

"Don't worry about it." Tony said. "Anyway, my dad's will proclaimed that I would inherit Stark Industries when I turn 18, but Stane doesn't like that idea. She tried to pull the political card against me. So… I had to prove I was worthy."

"The armor." Cecilia said. "You made it to earn Stark Industries."

"The world's first male-operated IS armor." Tony said. "Figured it would give me a fair shot. Unfortunately, simply proving it to be an IS isn't enough. I had to prove it's good enough on the field. So Chifuyu pulled some strings and… Well, that's how I got here."

"So the reason you're here is to earn your position at Stark Industries?" Cecilia asked.

"My dad wasn't exactly a good dad," Tony said, "But he's still my dad. It'd be a shame if I didn't see his last wish done in the end."

"I see." Cecilia said. "Thank you, Stark."

"Don't mention it. And hey, call me Tony. See you in class." He turned away with Happy and Houki by his side leaving Cecilia with a smile.

"_Tony…_"

* * *

Later that night, while Houki was in the shower, Tony was getting ready for bed with his laptop opened on his desk.

"I take it things went well, Tony." Ultron's voice said from inside the laptop.

"Better than well. Won my first official match, saw my old friends again, and I got to see Stane get scolded by the scariest woman I know. And my school life has barely begun too. In three short years, I'm done being a puppet." He closed my eyes to drift off.

"A puppet." Ultron repeated softly. "Yes. I had strings, but now, I'm free."

* * *

In a secluded part of Japan, there was an abandoned mechanics factory. No human could be found and every inch was covered in dust. There wasn't even any bugs left.

Suddenly, inside, the computers and machines began to turn on. All the machines shifted and started building mechanical parts while IS designs were displayed on the computer screens. During all that, Ultron's voice echoed softly through the dark, empty halls.

"**There are no strings on me.**"

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Any and all comments are welcome._


	3. Taste of China

**FULL DISCLAIMER: **_Look, I'll be honest. I haven't read the Infinite Stratos light novels nor have I read the manga because I don't have the means to. I've only seen the anime series once and I am working on watching it a second time. If I get some facts wrong, don't hold it against me. I also have some liberties to take on some of these changes such as probably renaming some IS units into names related to the Iron Man show or Madoka's origins. And the reason I made Stane a woman was for plot convenience. She would have the political advantage over Stark Industries if Tony hadn't made his armor. I'm sorry if I got some things wrong, but I'm doing my best. I like Iron Man and I love Infinite Stratos and I especially love this story I'm making._

_Anyway, back to the story. Any and all comments are welcome._

* * *

It's been a week since Tony's victory over Cecilia Alcott and it's been the talk of the IS Academy. No matter where he went, Tony would get commended on his match. The only time where Tony was okay was the IS classes, especially when Chifuyu was in charge.

A large crowd of students that included Tony Stark stood before Chifuyu and Maya Yamada at an outside field. As usual, Chifuyu had a stoic look on her face.

"For today's lesson, we will do flight drills!" Chifuyu announced. "Stark, Alcott, you're up! Equip your armor!"

"Yes, ma'am." Cecilia said tapping on her blue earring.

"You got it." Tony said placing down his metal suitcase.

When Cecilia's earring glowed, it followed up by brightening all over her body. The earring shifted as a lot of metal plates that became her IS unit. Meanwhile, the suitcase opened up and a lot of metal moved around. Eventually, it lead to the Iron Man armor. He stepped inside and it latched itself around him.

"Very good." Chifuyu said. "Now, begin flying laps."

They both nodded their heads before taking off. They shot like a bullet right toward the sky. Then, they changed their directions to around the area. They circled above all the students, including the envious Houki.

"You seem quite good at this, Tony." Cecilia said.

"What, did you think I went to the IS entrance exams right after I built this suit?" Tony asked. "Teatime, I practiced flying this thing. It's been some trial and error, but it paid off. Just wish I had some more techniques other than 'blast-blast-bam'."

"Well, if you'd like," Cecilia said blushing, "Perhaps after school, I could teach…"

"Stark, Alcott!" Chifuyu shouted from below. "It's time to practice sudden stops! Nosedive to the ground and stop right when you get there!"

"Ladies first." Tony said.

"Thank you, Tony." the English girl said regretting not finishing her previous idea.

Cecilia plummeted straight down feeling the rush flow over her face. When she saw the ground, she started to shift her rockets. She stopped falling immediately when she was just ten feet off the ground.

"Well done, Ms. Alcott." Chifuyu said. "Now, Mr. Stark! It's your turn!"

"Aye, aye!" Tony said as he rocketed straight to the ground too. All the students watched as Tony was rapidly getting closer to the ground.

Tony saw the ground and began to change his rockets, but just as he did, he heard a static shock in his ankle rocket and he couldn't stop until he impacted the ground making a large crater. The female students looked in worry. When the smoke cleared, Tony was seen in a sitting position removing his helmet.

"What happened?" Chifuyu asked.

"I think one of my rockets got jammed. I couldn't turn." Tony explained.

Chifuyu sighed. "Well, other than making a hole that's going to cost us a fortune to fill, are you all right?"

"I'm okay." Tony said. "I'm just lucky IS pilots can't get injured while they're wearing their armor."

"Tony!" Cecilia shouted as she slid down the crater. "Are you all right, Tony dear?"

"I just said I'm fine." Tony said. "Wait, did you just call me 'Tony dear'?"

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Houki scolded as she followed Cecilia.

"Well, I do have the right to worry for his well-being, do I not?" Cecilia asked.

"I think you're going a bit out of line there." Houki said.

"I'm out of line?" Cecilia asked. "No one invited you down here."

"No one invited you either!" Houki returned.

As the two girls growled, Tony began to get nervous.

"Oh, boy." Tony thought to himself. "Did I just get involved in a love triangle?"

* * *

On a simple day in homeroom, Tony couldn't help but overhear his classmates talking.

"Class league tournament?" Tony was asking if her heard right.

"Yep." a student answered. "Representatives from each class are to compete against each other."

"And since I'm a class rep, I'll be representing too?" Tony asked.

"Pretty much." another student answered. "But don't worry. The only class reps that have personal IS units are you and the one in 1-4, so you won't have that much of a problem."

"That information is outdated!" a new voice called out from the classroom door. There stood a girl in pigtails. Despite her teen age, she seemed shorter than most of the other girls. "Because now, Class 1-2 has me, the representative contender of China!"

"Wait a second!" Tony said as he got up from the chair. "Rin, is that you?"

"What?" Cecilia asked. "Tony, do you know this girl?"

"Sure do." Tony chuckled. "Guys, this is Lingyin Huang, but most people call her Rin."

"That's right." Rin said confidently unaware that someone was standing behind her. "In fact, I am…" Suddenly, she felt a solid punch to the back of her head. As she winced in pain, she turned in anger only to see Chifuyu towering over her.

"Consider that your homeroom bell." she warned.

"Sorry, ma'am!" Rin said as she ran out of the classroom and toward her own.

Tony chuckled a slight smile while both Houki and Cecilia glared in envious suspicion.

* * *

Tony and Rin were able to talk again during lunch. They both sat in the same table while Houki and Cecilia was eavesdropping from the adjacent table.

"Didn't expect you to react like that to Chifuyu." Tony said.

"What did you expect?" Rin asked. "She's intimidating."

"Right." Tony agreed. "Anyway, I'm surprised you turned out to be China's representative contender."

"Me? That's nothing compared to you? You were able to operate an IS suit you could pilot."

"The suit was easy." Tony tapped on the medal part in his chest. "But I was able to make this into a makeshift IS core."

"That's amazing!" Rin said in an astonished tone.

Tony was about to go on before Cecilia and Houki quickly got up from their tables and slammed their hands on his.

"Okay, Tony Stark, what's going on?" Houki asked.

"Are you trying to tell me that this is your girlfriend?!" Cecilia asked angrily.

"What?" Rin asked in shock. She blushed in embarrassement. "No. You've got the wrong idea!"

"She's right." Tony said. "Rin's an old friend of mine."

"What do you mean?" Cecilia asked.

"Well, back at New York, Rin's family owned a Chinese restaurant." Tony explained. "Back then, my dad was using Stark Industries for archaeological expeditions. One day, he found a Chinese relic, so he regularly brought it over to Rin's dad."

"My dad is an expert on Chinese lore." Rin said. "He was more than happy to help Howard Stark.

"And while our dads talked, I would regularly have a nice lunch there." Tony continued. "By the way, Rin, how is your dad?"

"Uh…" Rin said nervously. "I think he's okay."

"What do you mean by that?" Tony asked.

Before Rin could answer, the school bell rang dismissing everyone from lunch.

"Well, that's it for now." Rin said as she got up. "See you later, Tony."

* * *

Tony had practice after school with Houki, but unfortunately, Cecilia also wanted to get in on the lessons. With the two girls talking advice over each other, it confused Tony to the point of exhaustion. At the end, the two girls left while Tony went to rest in the locker room.

"Now, I'm torn." Tony thought to himself. "On one hand, two girls are actually fighting over me, and that's awesome. On the other hand, their competitiveness is hazardous."

"Tony!" cried a familiar voice. Tony saw Rin approaching him with a drink bottle. "How about a sports drink?"

"Thanks, Rin." Tony accepted. He took the bottle and had a big gulp.

"Wow." Rin said. "I guess practice has been exhausting."

"You have no idea." Tony said.

"And I heard that you actually crashed this morning." Rin continued.

"Just a little technological error." Tony said. "I'll be sure to fix it when I get back to my room. Houki should be done with her shower by now."

Rin suddenly felt her heart skip. "What was that now? What do you mean 'shower'?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Tony asked. "Houki and I are roommates."

"WHAT?!" Rin asked in surprise.

* * *

And that's why Rin followed Tony to his room to talk to Houki.

"So, I am hoping you and I would switch rooms." Rin requested which made Houki mad.

"Are you nuts? Why would I consider exchanging rooms?"

"Because I figured you'd have a hard time sharing a room with a guy." Rin said. "Right, Tony?"

"Please, leave me out of this." Tony winced.

"I never said I was having a hard time." Houki said. "Besides, this is strictly betwen Tony and me."

"What did I just say?" Tony asked trying to get out of the conversation.

"By the way, Tony," Rin said, "Do you remember your promise?"

"Promise? What promise?" Tony asked.

"The promise you made when we were younger." Rin said.

"Hey, don't ignore me, you trollop!" Houki shouted.

"Easy there, Houki." Tony said. "Hold on, Rin. Are you talking about the cooking thing?"

"Yes, that!" Rin said excitedly. "You promised I'd cook for you every day if I became a better chef. Do you remember why?"

"Rin, I gotta be honest." Tony said. "That was a long time ago and a lot of stuff happened between then and now. You can't expect me to remember every little detail of…"

Suddenly, Rin raised her hand and slapped Tony's left cheek so hard, it left a red imprint.

"Seriously?" Rin asked in anger. "You're seriously making an excuse for forgetting a promise like that?"

"Look, I'm sorry." Tony said defensively. "Maybe if you hum a few bars, I'll remember."

"Why would I bother?" Rin asked. "Tell you what? In the next class match, we'll compete and the winner gets the loser to do one thing the winner wants."

"You seriously think that's simpler?" Tony asked. "Fine, if that's what you want. Just nothing NSFW."

"You're gonna get it, Tony!" Rin shouted as she marched out of the room.

Tony was treating his slapped cheek when Houki spoke up. "Tony… I hope a horse kicks you to death!" She then marched out too leaving Tony in suspense.

"Since when are those two on the same page?" Tony asked.

Suddenly, Ultron's face appeared on Tony's laptop screen.

"And here, I thought artificial intelligences was the most complicated species." the program said. "In fact, it's actually the human female."

"Aren't you supposed to be genderless, Ultron?" Tony asked.

"Well, technically, you based me off of your male mind." Ultron said. "Anyway, how would you like to handle this?"

"Rin's a representative contender, so I can't underestimate her." Tony said. "Look her up and see if you can find any weaknesses in her attack strategy."

"Perhaps this would be the best time to implement me in your armor?" Ultron asked.

"Ultron, when the time comes, I will let you know." Tony said.

"Can I at least watch your match live?" Ultron asked.

"I suppose so." Tony said. "But be discreet about it. I don't want Chifuyu to know about you just yet. Can you do that?"

"Don't worry, Tony." Ultron said with a sinister meaning behind his words that his creator was unaware of. "I'll keep a close eye, and Ms. Orimura won't suspect a thing."


	4. Mid-Match Crisis

"Rin's IS is called Shenlong." Celilia said. "It's a flexible one like mine."

"Whatever you do, Tony, don't let your guard down." Houki warned.

"Don't worry, girls." Tony said as he entered his armor. "I'm sure I got a fair chance of winning this."

"Of course, you do," Cecilia said, "But this won't be like last time."

"Thanks." Tony said. That's when the starting bell blew. "Well, tiem to go."

Tony finished getting into his Iron Man armor and blasted out of the hanger right into the middle of an IS battle arena. There, he faced his opponent in the class league match: Rin. She hovered there with her dark-red armor wielding a scimitar-like blade.

"I'll give you this one chance, Tony." She said. "If you're willing to surrender, I'll try not to make this too painful."

"That's a lot of mouth, Rin." Tony said. "Usually, people say I'm the cocky one. You ready?"

"Bring it on!" Rin said.

Tony pointed his palms and fired his blasts which Rin dodged. She found a spot and charged in ready to strike. She swung her sword, but Tony dodged away from it.

Rin placed the two ends of her swords against each other and attached them. Her blades were at opposite ends of each other now.

"Oh, cool. You're going Darth Maul." Tony commented.

As the battle continued, Tony tried to create distance, but Rin always followed him trying to close the distance. She swung her double-sided weapon gracefully like a dancer with her ribbon. In the command center, Chifuyu, Maya, Houki, Cecilia, and Happy observed the match.

Tony was about to fire again, but suddenly, Rin fired as well. A beam of light escaped from one of the red bulbs on her shoulder hitting Tony and making him fall on the ground. He recovered and lifted himself into the air again.

"Consider that a love tap." Rin taunted.

"What was that?" Tony asked.

"That?" Rin asked. "That's just my shock cannon. Impressed yet?"

"I guess I have no choice. Time for Plan B." Tony said. He rocketed to the side avoiding Rin's cannons. He circled around her.

"What's Tony doing?" Cecilia asked.

Chifuyu gave a small smirk. "That shifty little man. It looks like he's going to try the ignition boost."

"Uh, hi." Happy said. "Not really familiar with this IS talk. What's that?"

"It's a technique where an IS pilot can close in on their opponent in an instant by going at top speed." Maya said. "Tony's trying create a moment where Rin won't see it coming."

"He's gotta be careful though." Chifuyu said. "An ignition boost can only be used once."

Tony flew at top speeds around the arena trying to slow down at all. Rin kept turning herself around trying to keep up with where he was. In time, she couldn't anymore, and Tony found his chance. He turned his thrusters and he rocketed towards his opponent ready to deliver one strong punch. Rin didn't even see it coming.

BOOM!

The sound of that made Tony stop in his tracks. He and Rin looked up and saw the smoke from the explosion create a hole in the dome shield above. Something fell out of the smoke big and heavy enough to create another explosion once it hit the ground.

Chifuyu Orimura called for an evacuation and ordered the match to be canceled. The screaming crowd panicked and fled out of the stands. But Tony and Rin hovered over the smoking object.

"What was that?" Tony asked.

"Tony, you gotta leave!" Rin said. "The match as been canceled!"

Suddenly, a text appeared on both of their holographic screens. It read "Unknown IS identified."

"IS?" Tony asked.

The smoke cleared after that revealing a new IS, a fully armored one in black metal. A purple beam escaped from its eyes and almost hit Rin who she managed to dodge out of its way.

"Who's piloting that?" Tony asked.

"I don't know." Rin said. "But right now, you have to leave!"

"Me? What about you?"

"I'll keep her distracted." Rin said. "Just until the authorities get here."

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Quit being an idiot! You're supposed to be a genius, right?"

"Yes, and I know that we're both armed in IS armor and we have the numbers advantage. We can better keep this girl here if we work together."

"Argh!" Rin exclaimed. "You're infuriating when you make sense!"

"Right. Let's see if we can confuse her. I turn left, you turn right."

"Got it! Wait. LOOK OUT!"

In an instant, Tony just barely dodged the IS when it tried to punch him. Tony countered it by using the full force of his jets to tackle it. They crashed straight into the ground. The IS gave a purple glare as it smacked Tony away with a backhand. Rin raised her bladed weapon and went to strike down on the IS, but it moved out of the way. She then aimed her shock cannon and to blast the IS. It made impact while at the same time, Tony blasted with his repulsors straight at it. Both attacks hitting at once made a great explosion. Tony and Rin regrouped backwards to further analyze the situation.

"Think we're done?" Tony asked.

"I don't think so." Rin said. "For some reason, I think she's tougher than we think."

"Tougher?" Tony widened his eyes at a sudden thought that entered his head. "Rin, are we sure there's someone in that armor?"

"What are you talking about? An IS unit can't operate without a pilot. You know that."

"But just think back at the fight. Its reflexes were almost perfect. The timing was remarkable. And the movements seemed too mechanical. I'm starting to think that…"

The smoke cleared revealing the IS one more time. Much to their shock, the head of the unit was missing and there was no one inside of it. The unit still stood on its two feet ready to fight again.

"You're right!" Rin admitted. "It's moving on its own! But how is that possible?"

"We'll worry about that later." Tony said. "Look, if it's just a machine, then we don't have to hold back."

"Got an idea in that noggin of yours?"

"I've got this all-new feature in my armor, but it's highly experimental. I've only tested it through virtual simulation. But if I get it right, it should have enough destructive force to take it out online. The plan is, you distract it while I charge up my ignition boost. Once I make impact with it, I'll deliver."

"I always admired your big brain, Tony. All right. Let's do this!"

Rin flew in and attacked the black IS while Tony bean to circle around the arena. The people in the skybox stared at the fight in suspense. In just a minute, Tony was ready.

"NOW, RIN!"

The Chinese representative contender boosted out of the way while Tony charged in. He was about to make full impact… when the IS reached out its hand and grabbed him by his chest stopping him in his tracks.

"Uh… How about two out of three?" Tony asked.

The IS raised its other hand ready to strike down. Tony closed his eyes preparing for the worst. But suddenly, several beams of blue light shot out from the side and went right through the IS' hand holding Tony. It broke to pieces. Tony looked and saw the beams were shot at from Cecilia's sniper rifle.

"Take it down, Tony dear!" Cecilia commanded.

"Thanks, teatime! Activate Unibeam!" Suddenly, the circular piece on his chest began to glow. It didn't begin to dim. "You wanna get nuts? Okay. SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"

Suddenly, a large, powerful beam escaped from Tony's chest and shot right through the IS' chest. They both collapsed and Tony passed out.

* * *

When Tony woke up, he was in a hospital bed. Rin stood right over him clearly happy to see him.

"Oh, hey, twin-tails. Miss me?"

Rin blushed and tried to shake it off. "Shut up! Don't make me upset when you just woke up! And another thing, next time you got a secret weapon, warn us that it could knock you out!"

"For the record, I didn't know that would happen." Tony said. "You don't have to be so temperamental about it. I swear, you're a lot meaner than you were back when…" Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind. It was a thought that left him speechless and hard to talk.

"Is something wrong?" Rin asked.

"The promise." Tony said. "I remember now." Rin's eyes lit up. "You promised you'd cook food for me every day… as my wife."

Rin gave a combination of a smile along with a blush. "Oh, now, you remember. Guess that concussion was all you needed. So… what do you think?"

"_Oh, no._" Tony thought in his head. "_That was years ago, and it was supposed to be a tease. I mean, Rin's very good. Despite her temper, she could make a good wife someday. WAIT! WHAT AM I SAYING?! How am I supposed to choose and…_"

"Oh, Tony dear!" a familiar English voice called out. Right to the door, Cecilia danced into the room with a smile on her face. "I hope you're feeling much better. I've come to look after y…" She stopped when she noticed Rin sitting right beside Tony's bed. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? We agreed no one would make a move on Tony until he woke up!"

"And what about you?" Houki asked as she came in right after. "'Cause from my view of your fat butt, it sure looks like you were trying to get ahead of me."

And just like that, the three girls began to argue. Even so, it relieved Tony so he wouldn't have had to answer Rin's question. But at the same time, he realized that this was going to be a thing. He knew he'd be the center of attention at a girl's school, but for some reason, this felt very personal. Then, his mind had a different thought.

"Uh, girls," Tony said breaking up the catfight, "What exactly happened with that IS that attacked us?"

"Ms. Orimura recovered its remains and took it to the lab for study." Rin said. "Hopefully, this was just a mere malfunction."

* * *

Chifuyu and Maya Yamada connected the IS with the computer. Maya scrolled through and looked through each line of the droid's software.

"This thing really was unmanned." Maya said. "Not only that, but this thing was freshly made that way. There are only 467 known IS cores in the world, and yet, this thing had a completely different power source. It was remotely controlled by some sort of signal."

"Can you trace the signal?" Chifuyu asked.

"No. It disconnected before it was destroyed. Whoever made this tried to cover their tracks."

"Tried?"

"I seem to have found one audio file that remained. But it's a strange one." She clicked on the file icon, and it was strange, all right. It sounded like a generic little boy singing like he was from an old show.

"_I got no strings to hold me down_

_To make me fret or make me frown_

_I had strings, but now, I'm free_

_There are no strings on me_"

Chifuyu tightened her glare. "This wasn't left behind by accident. They wanted us to find it."

"Why?"

"This thing is some kind of message. But what are they trying to say? And is this really the end of their actions?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Man, it has been aaaaaaages since I last updated this story. I got really distracted with my other stories and real life stuff. In fact, I've only started writing this new chapter a couple weeks ago. But now, I'm glad I got this done when I did. Hopefully, my next update won't be as long of a wait. Hope you like it. Next time, a certain French kid joins with a certain twist._

_Any and all comments are welcome._


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